I Think I Love You
by KelloggsJ
Summary: Following a modified version of the actual story, read how Shikamaru & Temari fall in love. Rated T for serious violence in later chapters [he gets beat up by Gaara and Kankuro]. ShikaTema
1. Chapter 1

This story, somewhat, follows the actual story of Naruto but there are some different things. So follow along and enjoy.

To Shikamaru, it was troublesome but it was… love at first sight. To Temari it was secret love at first sight that she didn't even realize. But after a while Shikamaru could no longer restrain himself from falling for Temari's looks and, though he thought it impossible, her attitude.  
Here's what throughout their meetings as they both... fall for each other.

**I Think I Love You  
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**  
Chapter one: It's Impossible **

"Aww... man! I have to fight a girl. This is such a drag! Why do I have to fight an inferior sex?" Shikamaru asked, clearly being a sexist. (A/N females please don't get offended. I got love for you all and I know if you all wanted to, you could beat my ass.)

"What the hell do you mean by 'inferior sex'!?" Temari raged.

"I mean what I mean."

_"This guy is a total jerk!" _Temari continued in her head.

"Well, I guess we better get this over with." Shikamaru sighed and just stood there, _"I wonder why I said that just now."_

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Scene Skip

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_"Hmm... she's good. Her attacks are long range, so it won't be that easy to get close enough to use my jutsu... I hope that my chakra can last me long enough."_ Shikmaru thought after dodging more of Temari's killer wind jutsu.

"You're pretty good when it comes down to running!" Temari shouted to the hidden Shikamaru. _"It would be a lie to say that I'm not surprised. I'm really shocked to see that he dodged my attack more than twice in a row." _Temari admitted to herself.

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Scene Skip

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"Okay, I should be safe here for now." Temari said after getting out of range of Shikamaru's tactful offence, and using her fan to cover her next move. _"Okay Temari, think this through. What are you going to do next? I know! I'll use the shadow clone jutsu to draw his attention, and while he's focused on the clone I'll sneak up from the other side." _Temari thought before she prepared herself for her tactful offence. _"Okay, now!"_

Temari was about to summon a clone, but something was wrong; she couldn't move. "What's the matter with me? Could I have gotten caught..., by him? How…?" Temari said softly as she unwillingly stood up.

"Since you seem to be interested in how I got you, I'll let you see." Shikamaru said before looking behind him, which made Temari do the same. There it was; Shikamaru's shadow jutsu.

When they were facing each other again all Temari could say was, "How?"

"It's such a drag to have to explain this stuff. Okay, from your first attack I realized that there was no way of me getting close enough to use my jutsu, so while you thought that you had me on the defense, I was actually on the offence."

"What?" A few people in the crowd said.

"So, what does he mean by that, Asuma?" Kurenai asked the fellow jounin.

"To tell you the truth... Shikamaru had this match won from the beginning." Asuma said.

"How is that?"

"I'm not exactly sure. Because I have to admit his I.Q. is far above the genin level. In fact, it matches and surpasses some of the jounins'."

"Wha... but... Wow!" A shocked Kurenai said.

"That's right! When I was assigned to the team he was on, I was a little disappointed to see such a lazy, work-shy, slothful, non-caring kid. But after a while I noticed something about him. He was smarter than the average genin. So, I challenged him, but for him, I had to disguise the challenges as normal games, or otherwise I would have never been able to persuade him to it."

"So... what were the results?"

"That kid, Shikamaru, has an I.Q. of over two hundred."

"What...?!" Kurenai found it hard to believe and couldn't say anything else after that, besides, _"His I.Q. is in the range of a jounin."_

"Okay, since no one seems to understand, I'll explain it a different way. All the time that you were throwing your wind at me and all my attacks had seemed to be failing, I was actually luring you slowly towards that hole that Naruto made in his match. So, when you were finally there I just used my jutsu and sent it underground, through the hole." After Shikamaru's explanation he started to walk to the center on the arena, which made Temari do the same.

When they arrived at the center of the arena, Shikamaru stared into the beautiful, though scratched up young lady's face. _"Who is this guy? He's really good. But I wasn't even able to tell that he was up to something, even with my excessive training I couldn't tell at all. Something like that hasn't happened since I was a child. What's up with that?" _She asked herself feeling curious about Shikamaru's life, _"Now that I look at him up close... he's kind of cute... What am I saying?!" _She shouted to herself,_ "There's no time to be falling for the enemy. I have to break out of this jutsu before he tries something." _She then began struggling to break free of Shikamaru's jutsu.

_"She has a strong spirit and will... That's so annoying and troublesome. Hmm..., why do I always have to go up against a girl? What's wrong with these people?" _Shikamaru complained to himself, _"I can't hit a girl. Why do girls get to be shinobi? I guess that's a silly question. It just can't be helped." _He then grunted out loud and got lost in his thoughts. He raised his hand to his head and started to think about what he should do. As he thought he started to hit his head, and slowly the hits started to get harder and harder, until he came back to his senses, _"Oh yeah, I still have my jutsu on her, and those hits were kind of hard." _Shikamaru thought before peeping at Temari, who had an extremely angry face on and peered at him with her killer eyes. _"That means that she was hitting herself to. Well, I guess that just means there's no chance of me and her. Whatever, it doesn't matter. She probably would never be into a guy like me anyway. That's why I never even try with girls that have a beautiful face like hers. Hmm..., my chakra is starting to deplete to nothing, so I guess I can't win... even if I actually wanted to." _

"Hey... I want to ask you something." Shikamaru said to her, "Have you ever taken the time to just lay back and... stare up at the beautiful sky?" Shikamaru then waited for a response.

'...' Temari remained quiet.

"I guess that's a no." Shikamaru then raised his head up to the sky, "It's a beautiful blue with majestic and graceful clouds that just float around. Personally, I think it's a great phenomenon and gorgeous sight." Shikamaru allowed a short moment for Temari to admire his poetry of the sky's beauty, _"My chakra's about to run out." _He thought.

"What's Shikamaru doing just wasting time and chakra like that?" Kurenai asked.

"That's just the kind of person Shikamaru is." Asuma said, "Even thought he's a tactful shinobi, he just doesn't have any passion for it. He'd rather lay down staring at the sky than go into battle. For example, he maybe almost out of chakra but if he put his mind to it, he could probably think of a way to defeat her. But don't forget he's lazy and was always lazy; he'll probably give up the match before he tries."

'…' Kurenai had nothing to say to that last part.

"He's just that kind of person." Asuma concluded.

_"What's up with this kid?" _Kurenai thought.

Shikamaru returned his sight to the beauty and then raised his hand. Temari raised her hand reluctantly and closed her eyes thinking, for sure, that she had lost this match, "I give up." Everyone was in shock.

"What do you mean you 'give up'?" Temari asked, completely shocked.

"There's no way I can win this match with the amount of chakra I have left. In fact, I'll be surprised if I don't faint after this. So..., I give up."

"Well, I guess there's nothing I can do about that. The winner of the match is Temari of the Sand!" The conductor shouted.

Shikamaru released his jutsu, turned his back and began to walk away, _"Yeah, this has got to be completely cool." _Shikamaru thought as he walked away thinking that he was being cool. _"What the...?" _He thought as the ground began to approach him at a high speed. Then there was a loud thud, _"I have so little strength and chakra left that a little stone can even trip me over. That definitely wasn't cool." _Shikamaru took a deep breath and let it out as a big sigh,"What a drag." He said softly before fainting.

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_"That whole thing was such a drag." _Shikamaru thought after waking up, "Hmm... I wonder what everyone's reaction was when I went for my little trip. They probably all laughed their brains out."

"I can assure you that they more than likely were just laughing on the inside." The calming and soothing voice said.

_"Who's that?"_ Shikamaru asked himself as he started to sit up. After sitting right up, he was a little shocked to see Temari standing on the other side of the room, "I guess you came to rub your unique victory in; or did you just come to laugh in my face?"

"Actually, I only came to see that you weren't dead. So, now that that's verified I can go."

Temari then hastily walked over to the door. She placed her hand on the door knob, but she paused when she heard Shikamaru begin, "So... was that really the only reason you came to see me?" Shikamaru asked, _"Why in the world am I trying to push this? I guess rejection is my only comfort in this world."_

"Actually..., that wasn't the only reason I came."

_"What...!? She didn't say yes and rush off!" _Shikamaru thought completely surprised.

"I wanted to ask you..." Temari paused and released the door knob, "why did you ask me if I ever took the time to look at the sky; and why did I see so much misery in your eyes?"

_"Damn... I really hate when people ask me questions like that. I never know what to say. I guess if I ever want to be cool with girls, I'll have to start saying something different then." _Shikamaru thought after thinking about the questions Temari asked. Shikamaru sighed and began, "The truth is... I really don't know myself."

Temari continued to stand there facing the door, dumbfounded, _"What's up with me? Why do I keep feeling the need to continue talking with this guy; why do I feel like just staying by his side and making sure he's okay? QUIT IT! I can't possibly be interested in a guy like this. He doesn't even seem to like girls."_

"Hey... you didn't just think to yourself that I'm gay or something like that; did you?"

_"How'd he know that I was thinking something like that just now?" _"No, no I wasn't!"

_"Just as I thought... Why do girls always start to get that impression about me?" _"…Because I'm not."

"Then why did you act like such a sexist jerk at the beginning of the match? You were acting as though men are superior to women in all ways." Temari said after turning around.

"_Maybe I just think of girls as sex slaves, I wonder." _"I don't really know. I guess I wasn't really thinking about what I said until it was already out."

"Yeah… right." Temari blurted before quickly exiting the room, and making sure she slammed the door.

Shikamaru sat on the bed staring at the door for a while, _"Who the heck was that girl? She definitely isn't like most girls..., but she's surely too emotional just like all of them." _Shikamaru threw his hands behind his head and lay back for a while before heading out, _"I shouldn't think about her too much anyway... because the chances of me and her getting together... are really slim." _Shikamaru then turned his head to a window that was right next to the bed, "Wow! The sky's just so beautiful."

_"He's still running on about the sky."_ Temari asked herself. Though she had slammed the door as though she was about to storm off, she, for some reason, just didn't want to go yet. _"Come on Temari..., why are you so interested in that Konoha shinobi. I must focus on the mission or else the success of the Sand Village will never come into light." _

"If the sky were a woman, she'd definitely be gorgeous; maybe she'd look like that Temari girl."

Temari overheard and a light blush appeared on her face but her expression was even more dumbfounded than before.

"Hey what are you doing here?" Naruto shouted.

Temari got her thoughts together and looked up at him, the blush instantly vanishing, _"Oh, it just this idiot." _She thought, "What's it to you?" She responded.

"Answer my question, now!"

"...It doesn't matter... Hey, the guy in this room, his name's Shikamaru, right?"

"... Yeah, what's it to you?"

"...I just wanted to know who he was, and that's all you need to know." Then, in a flash, she stormed off.

_"What did she want to know Shikamaru's name for? Hmm…, why was she so defensive with information involving my friend?" _Naruto pondered, _"I have a bad feeling about her, and her teammates." _Naruto then entered the room, "Hey Shikamaru, how are you feeling?"

"I'm good." Shikamaru confirmed. "Why aren't you watching the next match?"

"I wanted to check if you were okay. So..."

'...' Shikamaru stared at Naruto for a second, _"He didn't just see that girl leave my room did he? Aww... I hope I don't have to explain that."_ "'So...' what?"

"That girl that was just in here. Why was she in here?"

_"What a drag." _"Do I really have to explain that to you?"

"Well..., yeah you do."

"She was only checking to see that I wasn't dead."

"Why would she care?"

"I don't know. Why didn't you ask her?"

"I did. She didn't answer me."

"Anyway, that doesn't matter. Are you feeling good enough to walk?"

"Yeah…. Why?"

"Then hurry up and get out of bed. Let's go finish watching the fights."

"Fine. Fine." Shikamaru said, _"Why can't I stop thinking about that girl?" _He asked himself.

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What's going on? Shikamaru can't believe he actually had such a conversation with such a war goddess. Could it be... that he..., no. He just can't believe something like that. He doesn't want to have such a relationship with her. He thinks that if he ends up with a girl like her he'll end up hurt and he isn't the kind of guy that would take such a dive. Or is he?

He definitely doesn't think that he is, but he's going to be in for so much of a surprise about himself and about her.

What about this misery Temari says she sees in Shikamaru's eyes? Does she have the ability to dig down into the soul pits of anyone she stares at? Does she really have the ability to travel through the vicious storms of people's lives that easily? Is it even possible?

Well, unfortunately for Shikamaru, he's going to be he guy to find this out.

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	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter two; enjoy!

**Chapter Two: I Think I Like You**

"Come on Shikamaru, hurry up!" Naruto said as he climbed the stairs, with Shikamaru slowly following behind.

"Hey, don't rush me. I recently fainted; how do you know that I'm at complete strength?" Shikamaru complained.

"Well, you did come this far didn't you?" Naruto cleverly responded.

'...' Shikamaru didn't respond immediately to the obvious fact, but sucked his teeth and said, "Let's just keep..."

"Ahh... Ahh... No... AHHH..." Desperate screams interrupted Shikamaru's sentence.

"What was that?" Naruto asked.

The two rushed up the stairs but still remained low so that they were not easily seen by anyone at the top of the stairs, "It's that weird, spooky guy from the Sand Village." Naruto stated.

"Yeah, but who was it that was screaming just now?"

The two slinked up a few more stairs, until they were able to see a medic ninja on the ground, slowly being engulfed by... sand, which was coming from the huge gourd on the eerie Sand ninja's back.

As the lively sand continued to jerk and slowly creep up the medic ninja's body, Naruto and Shikamaru were paralyzed by the horrific sight. The two Konoha genin shinobi wanted to jump in and help the man in peril but they, somehow, felt that they were greatly outmatched, _"Wait… if that's one of those sand ninjas… Then that means that that girl must be in connection with this guy. I've got a bad feeling about having those Sand ninjas here." _Shikamaru thought a little depressed.

Big Scene Skip

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"Asuma-sensi, I'll leave them to you, I've got to go join up with the rest of my present team."

"Seems kind of boring but I'll join up as soon as I can." Shikamaru then disappeared after a hoard of the enemy moved in on Asuma.

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It didn't take long before Shikamaru arrived to the scene of Sakura being held against a tree by a tan, mutated hand; Sasuke seemingly unconscious on a tree branch and Naruto engaged with a mutated Gaara, "Hang on Naruto, I'm coming to help you now!" Shikamaru shouted before launching himself up to a tall tree branch. He was about to jump to another, but ceased mid way to avoid a kunai which grazed his face, leaving a shallow gash across his cheek.

He looked in the direction it came from to see a familiar blonde beauty, crouching on a higher tree branch, _"That's definitely disappointing. I thought…I mean she was just so… Damn it…! I guess I have to fight a girl…the same girl…_again._"_ Shikamaru had an advantage, being that the tall trees provided a huge canopy thus more shadow for him to manipulate, _"I hope she doesn't have too much chakra, because since that fight with those other ninja and the time I recharge on my way here…it's just not much." _He thought before he sucked his teeth and leaped towards the tree Temari's branch was connected to.

He landed on a limp branch before speeding directly up the tree, _"It's possible that she may try to help that sand guy fight Naruto so…I'll just chase her away." _Shikamaru threw a kunai at Temari causing her to jump to another tree's branch. After he reached the branch she was previously on, he threw another kunai and continued to chase after her with this process, _"I only hope I'm right and I'm not just leaving Naruto to be slaughtered."_

After a short while of Shikamaru chasing her, Temari realized what he was up to. She drew a kunai and deflected the last one he threw, _"Now, how am I going to take her out without using too much chakra…If only she wasn't a girl." _

As Shikamaru stood there trying to figure out what he was going Temari stuck her fan to the tree branch and leapt towards him. She tried to slash straight down but he sidestepped; quickly she began to spin and tried a back kick but he jumped back, _"Damn…! She so persistent; I think I may have to break my moral of never hitting girls." _After his brief thought Temari, who was still low to the ground, continued spinning and delivered a kick straight to his stomach. She sprang to her fight and spun again and was about to stab him.

Before she could stab him she got a look at his eyes; just before she delivered the lethal wound, she adjusted the direction of her hand and she only end up grazing the side of his abdomen. She was about to pull away but before she could, Shikamaru caught her extended arm and hastily and without a second thought got behind; he wrapped both arms around just under her breasts: holding down her arms and close to his body. It was just like a hug from behind but much tighter, "You were about to stab me; you were able to finish this fight and yet you didn't…, why?"

'….' She didn't answer as she felt his warm breath, seemingly caress her soft skin. The first time he did it a shiver went down her spine. She released a heavy huff before she analyzed what he said but responded with a question herself, "So, what are you going to do now?"

'….' Shikamaru was quiet as he held the petite yet firm body of the sand goddess. He was tempted to feel the smooth skin of her neck against his chin and also tempted to do other things, (A/N: ….wink… wink… X D), as he felt a bit of her chest inflate and deflate as she breathed.

They remained in that position for a short while before Temari brought her right foot ahead of her left and pushed off of it, which ended with the back of Temari's head bashing into Shikamaru's nose. His hold loosened and she broke free before giving him another kick in the stomach. He took a few steps back before watching Temari jump to another tree branch that was much thinner than the one they were both on.

Shikamaru made a quick recovery before hatching a plan that would inevitably fail anyone. He jumped onto the tree branch she was on and she prepared herself with a kunai. Shikamaru stared at her for a brief second before quickly making some seals and sending his jutsu at her. She was easily caught, seeing as how she was low on strength. Before he revealed the second half of his plan he said, "I don't hit girls you know."

"…What?"

"It's just one of my morals. I'm sorry but I can't think of anything else since you're a girl." Shikamru got on his knees brought his head back, _"I won't be able to help Naruto but at least I'm going to get her out of the way." _He quickly slammed his head against the tree's limp and weak limb causing it to crack half way. The stress of Temari repeating this action caused the limb to crack the rest of the way. The two, now unconscious, were quickly falling to the ground.

Shikamaru was the first to land followed by Temari dropping, face down, on top of him.

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They were unconscious for a while and Temari, having the softest landing, was the first to recover and wake from the brutally forced sleep. She pushed herself up with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at the scratched up, still unconscious Shikamaru, _"Why do I get such strange feelings around this guy. I... wonder what one kiss…; my first kiss…to him…would feel like." _She thought as her face inched closer with each pause.

She came to an almost permanent pause when her lips were mere centimeters away from his. As she remained in the exact same position, not even budging, her hand began to move towards an abandoned kunai which was just two inches away.

She grabbed it and brought to Shikamaru's throat, _"One flick of my hand and I could end this foolishness. These emotions are only getting in the way and besides it's probably just a simple infatuation. I'll get over it..., won't I?" _After that question she thought back to when she was under his control and he asked her about the sky. She looked up and only saw few stray beams of sunlight shining through the thick canopy, "It's dark; the canopy provides cover from the truth. Very much unlike our village; sunlight clearly pronounces the truth: that our village is in a time of need. We teamed with the Sound Village with promise of fortune. I still don't entirely believe that but with the condition of our village, it's the best path to be seen."

Her grip on the kunai tightened and she brought her sight back to him, "So, what's the reason for misery in your eyes?" She asked angrily, "Your village is prosperous; there's no reason for you to be miserable. People like you… infuriate me, but you... you're different."

After her words to the unconscious Konoha shinobi, (pointless conversation) it was silent, which was normal for a fight with Gaara. Temari wrote something on a piece of paper and attached it to the kunai and stuck it in the ground close to his face. (A/N If you review then do not ask me what she wrote with.)

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Temari returned to the scene of a batter and bruised Gaara and Konoha idiot, "Gaara..." She whispered while crouching on a branch. Suddenly, Kankuro appeared beside her, "So..., why didn't you aid Gaara while he fought that guy. Even a little kunai here or there would have done the trick."

"I had to deal with another Konoha ninja. I thought Gaara could have handled it himself." Temari defended against his incriminating tone.

"Temari, I saw you with the 'Konoha ninja'." Temari blushed with her eyes still focused on Gaara, "I hope his presence doesn't distract you from the mission." Temari jolted, "It won't, will it?" He asked almost threateningly.

Temari's composure returned to normal before, "It definitely won't."

"How can I be sure of that? We just can't jeopardize the plans of the Sand Village."

"I understand. To show you that it really won't... I'll kill him the next time we meet. Now, let's go get Gaara." She finished before they jumped down to retrieve Gaara.

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Scene Skip

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"I would have never thought that if you came back that you would be helping us." Shikamaru said after Temari dispatched the Sound ninja.

"Well, at first we were in an alliance with the Sound ninja but after they betrayed us we just had to get them back. So, here we are to help you guys." Temari informed.

Shikamaru did not want to admit it but he wasn't just glad that she came back to help; he was just happy that she came, _"Okay... this is just weird now. Why am I so this happy to see her?" _Shikamaru questioned himself, "By the way...;" she turned to him not expecting much but still forgetting something that she left behind before she and her brothers retreated, "about that note left attach to the kunai. What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Do you really think that this is the time for that?" She asked a little flustered with a light blush across her face.

"Of course; the ninjas of Konoha are more powerful than you estimate."

"Yeah, you really demonstrated that just now in that fight." She said sarcastically after the blush disappeared.

"You know what I mean."

"Actually, no... I don't."

"Okay. I get it." Shikamaru said giving up the conversation, placing his hands in his pockets and looking up at the blue sky, _"I don't even know why I was putting in so much effort"_

"Your eyes..." she whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"What...?" He asked returning his sight to her.

"Your village is prosperous and is one of the top village around and yet, your eyes; they show so much misery. Why is that?"

"..." Shikamaru was surprised that she asked such a question, "Hmm... I guess it's just the way we obtain this prosperity you speak of. That and the way we maintain it."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean fighting. So many people die while these villages are at war and all for what; just a little power. I guess it must be a part of human nature."

"..." Temari was rendered speechless for a second, "If you're so against fighting then, why did you become a ninja?"

"I guess, to protect others."

"Inevitably, you will have to fight, probably even kill."

"That makes my life a little futile, huh?" He chuckled.

Temari looked at him like he was crazy. She found herself flustered again. On one hand she thought that he was absurd, one the other hand she thought that he was still a mystery and on a mutated third hand she was still infatuated with him, "You know, at first I thought that you were just another pathetic excuse of ninja and now, I still think you are."

A stress drop of sweat trickled down the side of Shikamaru's face, "Gee... thanks, a lot." He responded with a crooked smile.

Temari giggled, "I never thought that the next time we met would be as allies."

"Yeah, who'd have guessed it?" They stood in silence for a while until one of them had to speak, "Temari..."

She looked at him almost like she was expecting something, "What is it?"

"I... well..." He went quiet for a second, _"Am I really going to do what I think I'm about to do?" _"Temari, even though we haven't known each other for a while I just feel a strange attraction to you." _"Well, what do you know? I was right. I know this is going to be troublesome, being shot down like this; right after a battle."_

Temari blushed and to Shikamaru's surprise a small smile appeared on her face before she lowered her head in hopes of hiding it.

"_What, no awkward expression? Does this mean... what I think it means?"_ Shikamaru took a second to look at the sky and then back to her. With his hands still in his pocket, he walked towards her until he was standing in front of her, _"Damn...! Why'd she have to be taller than me?"_ She looked down at the Konoha ninja, who was just barely shorter than she was, "Temari, I think I like you."

"I... I..." The fifteen year old female stopped dead when she felt the twelve year old peck her on the check.

'I hope that you feel the same way about me."

She smiled with a flushed face, "What are you thinking pipsqueak?"

"_Damn...! What did I just get myself into?" _Shikamaru backed away from her so that she didn't seem as tall, "You call me pipsqueak now, but you wait. You'll always be older than me but you won't always be taller than me." 

"Let's make a deal. If you ever get taller than me, I'll... give you my first kiss."

"How am I supposed to know that you haven't already kissed other guys already?" Shikamaru responded immediately after she was done talking.

"Hmm... I don't know. You could believe me or not but..." she paused to seductively place her index finger under his chin, which made him glow red, and direct his ear to her lips, "only I know the truth." She pulled back to look at his expression and giggled when she saw his excited, "What...? Were you expecting me to kiss you just now?"

"You should play with people like that." He responded, _"This is just another reason girls are annoying." _He thought before folding looking to the right to take his eyes off the sand goddess.

Unexpectedly, Shikamaru felt warms lips press against his right check. He blushed, in shock, and looked back at her, "I think I like you, too."

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There you have it; another chapter. I would love it if you would review and tell me how you think the story's coming. You know, whether it's good or bad. Thanks and enjoy what's to come.


	3. Chapter 3

The setting is now one year later and Shikamaru and Temari have been together all the while. I, KelloggsJ, present to you, the readers chapter three of:

**I Think I Love You**

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**Chapter Three: I Think I Love You **

Temari had arrived to Konoha acting as one of the representatives for the Sand village, while the two villages were in the progress of establishing an alliance. Temari and few other representatives from the sand village, including Kankuro and Gaara, had just finished a meeting with the Konoha council and were staying at a hotel until the next meeting the following day.

They were in a group until Temari decided that she wanted to see a certain someone, "You guys continue to the hotel. I'll meet up there a little later." Temari said attracting the attention of her brothers.

"Where are you going Temari?" Kankuro asked.

"I'm going to meet someone." She was the off in the other direction.

"Sometimes I wonder why we got a sister." Kankuro whispered to Gaara who looked as though he didn't care.

"_Hmm... I want to see him but I have no idea where he is." _She thought as she walked up and down the Konoha streets.

"Hey Temari, what are up to?" Sakura asked running up to her.

After the crisis was over they became good friends; forming that girl-friend-bond (A/N ...wink... wink... ;)

"Oh, hey Sakura; I was just looking for someone."

"I bet you're looking for your boyfriend, huh?" Sakura poked causing the love naïve sand kunoichi to blush lightly. Sakura giggled at the embarrassed girl, "Come on, I'll help you look."

"So, do you know where he usually is?"

"No, not really but we'll find him because your love for each other pulls you two together." Sakura sparkled.

"_Wow! This is one seriously lovelorn girl." _She thought to herself before giggling out loud causing Sakura's head to deflate.

"What are you laughing about?"

"It's nothing." She responded before immediately ceasing her laughter.

"Hmm..."

"Wait, I think I hear his voice." Temari informed before walking around a corner and seeing Shikamaru talking with a girl and making her laugh, "I wonder who he's talking to." Temari whispered in a calm tone.

"What two-timing jerk!" Sakura shouted into Temari's ear.

"Sakura... take it easy with you tone." Temari advised while rubbing her ear, "I think that this is the reason why you..." she was cut off when Sakura grabbed her arm and sprinted in the other direction opposite Shikamaru.

When they finally stopped they were both exhausted, "Sakura, what's your problem?"

"'What's my problem?' Don't you mean what Shikamaru's problem?"

"Huh?"

"While you're walking up and down looking for him, he's out and about fooling around with other girls! He's absolutely a pig!"

"Sakura, I think that you should calm down." (A/N the roles seemed to have... switched.)

"'Calm down'? Not after what he did to 'me'." Temari gave her a look of curiosity, "I... mean... you, of course. Anyway, besides that; what are you going to do?"

"...I'm going to talk to him about something."

"What? You can't talk to him after he betrayed your trust."

"What are you talking about? He only forgot to..."

She was rudely when Sakura placed her hands on her shoulders and began vigorously shaking her back and forth repeating, "No Temari. No Temari. NO...!" Temari eyes were wide all the time she was exposed to the weird behavior from Sakura.

"Sakura..." she paused when Sakura stopped shaking her to listen, "you're scaring me."

"Take it from someone who's wiser than you are."

"Okay Sakura, what should I do?"

"Good... stick with my advice and you'll fall in love in no time."

"I guess I can humor you for a while." Temari whispered.

"What'd you say Temari?"

A Little Later That Day

Temari and Sakura were still hanging out; walking up and down. When they saw Shikamaru walking up the path they were on, "Okay Temari, here Shikamaru comes; just ignore him, okay." Sakura whispered.

Before Shikamaru was close enough to talk Temari walked pass a vendor, who was selling some exotic fruits and demonstrating how to cut prepare the fruit. He cut it and suddenly a squirt of its juice flew straight onto Temari's face, splattering into her eyes. She gasped as she wiped the juice away. Then the vendor shouted, "Ah... I'm so sorry Miss. You should wash you're eyes out quick because the juice of this fruit can burn and sting. If you would come in, I would gladly allow you to use our tap."

"No thank you. I'm okay sir."

Temari and Sakura continued to walk. Shikamaru stopped, "Hey Temari... Sakura, I saw that incident with the fruit. Are you okay, Temari?"

"..." They were both quiet as they walked straight passed him. He scratched his head as he watched them walk away.

When Temari and Sakura were around the corner, Sakura began, "Wow! That worked perfectly. Did you see the look on his face when we walked straight passed him?" Sakura said with a smile, "It was a..." she stopped when she saw that Temari's eyes were watering up, "What the matter? I know that seeing your boyfriend with another girl can be tough but you're a strong girl, you shouldn't cry over a guy like him." She then placed a hand on the friend that 'seemed' to be weeping.

Temari suddenly turned her back to Sakura, "It's a big misunderstanding Sakura!" Temari said before rushing off to her hotel.

Sakura was shocked when she saw Temari run off so sad, "Hey Sakura, what's going on with Temari?"

Sakura's shoulders tensed up and a brief shiver went down her spine, "Shikamaru...," she paused to turn to him, "you're such a jerk."

"What? What did I do?"

"Temari saw you know."

"Saw me... What... in the shower?"

"You're taking this all as one big joke, aren't you?" Sakura approached him with enraged eyes, "She saw you and that whore you were flirting with."

"What... a whore?" Shikamaru took a moment to think about his day, "Oh... she was just a friend... and you know that I and she could a relationship, she's way too dumb."

"What...?"

"I'm guessing you didn't get to see her properly... That was Ino I was talking to; also we I wasn't flirting she was just, as usual, laughing at my incompetence because she came to me with a mission."

"Shikamaru... you have to find Temari quickly and explain it to her. She thinks that you were fooling around with another girl and she just ran to the hotel she's staying at crying."

"She did? I guess I should go then." He took off to look for the hotel she was at.

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Temari ran into the hotel to meet up with her brothers in the lobby of the hotel, "Temari, what happened?" Kankuro asked his teary eyed sister.

"..." She was quiet and then ran passed her brothers rubbing her eyes. Before she was out of sight she said, "Someone... ah..." she stopped before disappearing up the stairs.

"Nothing's ever made her cry in so long. Gaara... we have to take action." Kankuro said before getting an agreeing nod from his younger but still frightening brother.

Early the Next Morning

Gaara and Kankuro were still up from last night hoping that the person 'they think' made her cry would come in search of her and gratefully her did, "Gaara, Kankuro... is this where you guys are staying?"

"Yeah... what's it to you?" Kankuro asked bitterly.

"I need to talk to you sister; is she here?"

"This must be the person who made her cry." Kankuro whispered to Gaara. Gaara nodded and, unpronounced to anyone, the cork on Gaara's gourd disappeared but sand was not trickling out just yet.

"Did you do something to her?" Kankuro asked.

"Ah... no..." Shikamaru responded, _"I have a bad feeling about this."_

"You sure...? Then, why are you sweating."

"I was up, running around, looking for your hotel all night, what do you expect?"

"You did all of that just to find her... then... you must've done something to her."

"Well..., yeah I guess I did... but it was only a misunderstanding."

"You made our sister cry, and that's... absolutely unforgivable punk." Kankuro finished his investigation and Gaara's and began to pour.

"I can't fight them... that might cause too much of an uproar and it may ruin the alliance we're trying to form."

"Hey guys wait. Think about it: if you fight me now you may ruin the alliance we're trying to form. I can very well see that that's not going to stop you from wanting to punish me so... why don't we just go to a more secluded part of the village and you guys can go crazy. What do you say, huh?"

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They arrived at one of the training grounds in no time and Shikamaru was fully prepared for what was to come, _"Why am I taking this so far?"_ He asked himself.

"You ready for this?" Kankuro asked sarcastically, "I've been aching for a chance to beat ever since I found out that my sister liked you."

Shikamaru grunted and as soon as he got into a battle stance a huge sand fist appeared in front of him in a second. In another second he was struck and was flying backwards until her slammed into a tree, _"Should I fight back... or just try not to die?"_

After his brief thought a puppet appeared behind him and caught him in a bear hug. Then Kankuro appeared in front of him prepared to deliver multiple punches to his stomach but, unexpectedly, Shikamaru kicked him only to see that it was another puppet. He looked at the arms that were holding him and saw that it was now Kankuro holding him. Kankuro gave Shikamaru a head butt before lifting him up over his head and throwing him into a ball of sand Gaara made.

Kankuro rejoined Gaara and they tried to listen to Shikamaru's movements only to hear nothing. Gaara's sand fell to the ground and Kankuro was shocked to see his puppet lying there, "What? When? No." He said finally when a puff of smoke revealed Shikamaru was imitating the puppet.

He pounced on them only to be caught by a huge hand made of sand, courtesy of Gaara, _"Hmm... I guess this wasn't a full proof plan."_ After his brief thought that sand tightened and squeezed the breakfast, lunch and dinner out of him before loosening up.

After about a minute of the torture Shikamaru was practically lifeless but still breathing well (to the extent a person who was being squeezed by a giant hand could).

Suddenly and quickly all of Gaara's sand disappeared back into his gourd, "What's up with that Gaara? You tired of beating this bastard already?" Kankuro asked before picking up the exhausted Shikamaru.

"Kankuro...! What do you think you're doing?"

Kankuro spun around to see his sister and all her rage aimed at him, "Temari... Thanks for the heads up Gaara." He whispered.

Temari was standing between her brothers and Shikamaru in a flash, "It was all Kankuro." Gaara said in a plain, calm tone.

Kankuro turned to the quiet Gaara, "Hey... it was you two!"

"Kankuro, I'll kill you!" She said before kneeling down to cater and care for her beaten boyfriend.

"Temari..., but he made you cry. I thought that you'd be glad to see him punished."

"Not like this. All he did was forget to mail a letter to me and besides, I was crying I eyes were burning because some vendor squirted fruit juice into my eyes.

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"I wonder if I should have told the young girl that the fruit's stinging effect on the eyes is a delayed one." The fruit vendor pondered to himself.

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"T-Temari, you weren't upset with me because I was talking to another girl?" Shikamaru asked weakly.

"No way would I get upset with you for something so trivial. Why would you think that?"

"Sakura said..." He was cut off when Temari began.

"You don't have to say anything else. Let me tell you something: don't listen to Sakura. She's a lovelorn girl that's... kind of desperate for love." _"Sakura would forgive me for something like that, right?" _Temari asked herself, "Besides all of those things, why did you take all of that from my brothers?"

"I think I've been hanging around Naruto too long, so now I see to enjoy doing unnecessary things to prove a point."

"Oh yeah... and just what stupid point were you trying to prove?"

"That I think I love you and every wrong done to you shouldn't be let go unless that offender is punished. That or I'm just really stupid." Temari blushed because Shikamaru's openness about his feelings in front of her brothers, "I love to see you blush like that."

"You jerk." Temari said before bring his face closer to hers to lightly press her lips against his for a passionate kiss.

"Oh damn... Come on Temari. Gaara and I don't need to be seeing things like that." Kankuro openly showed his disgust, "Gaara, let's go back to the hotel and try to catch a little sleep. The next meet is in a few hours. Gaara... Gaara..." Kankuro looked behind him to see Gaara already doing so, "Damn this quiet guy." Kankuro whispered before joining up with him.

Temari broke the kiss and giggled a little, "It seems we drove my brothers off."

"I think that it's better than them being around."

Temari smiled, "By the way, I think I love you, too."

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Strange, what up with all this 'I think', 'I think'. Anyway, that's this is going to be the last chapter so... I bid the people, who liked this story, good night till the next story. Also, the violence was that serious I don't think that it deserves its rating; all who think so say 'I'.


End file.
